Sebastopol, CA--The dust has settled from Apple's remodel from Classic to
Mac OS X, and the consensus among developers and users alike--from artists
and educators to scientists and senior citizens--is that this is a versatile,
exciting platform. Apple's infectious passion for computing has it and other
companies churning out a lengthening list of must-have tools and goodies.
Rendezvous, Bluetooth, digital music, mobile computing, digital video,
AirPort Extreme, and on and on--all continue to reward longtime users and
convert geeks and power users alike from other platforms. Mac users, and
the administrators who support them, are eager to master the incredible
wealth of functionality that's now available, especially as Mac's digital
lifestyle transforms both business and home environments.

The third annual O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, happening October 25-28
in Santa Clara, CA, is evolving right along with Mac OS X. "This is *the*
platform for innovation," observes Derrick Story, conference program
chair. Story and his committee are seeking conference proposals from
people creating the future of the Mac, as well as those immersed in its
day-to-day care and feeding. In particular, they're seeking presentations
delving into technologies, methodologies, techniques, and just plain
useful and cool stuff appealing to:

System administrators, especially those in cross-platform environments.
This includes traditional Mac admins who are now getting up to speed on
Unix and working the Mac into both sides of the firewall in businesses and
organizations of all sizes, with an emphasis on networking, security, and
workflow.

Developers who want to understand and leverage the new paradigms at the
heart of Mac OS X, from Rendezvous to Bluetooth, Core Audio to Quartz
Extreme, Cocoa to Java. Working in Xcode is important, but so is scripting
with AppleScript, Perl, Python, Ruby, and PHP.

Digital musicians and their computer gurus who fine tune Macs for peak
performance, design workflows to manage huge amounts of content, work with
professional applications to create music, understand how to get new music
in front of audiences, and can share insider business tips to keep the ink
flowing in the black.

"We're also hoping to have a substantial number of talks aimed at pushing
the Mac envelope in the 'Insanely Great Mac Track,'" says Story, "showing
off the wonders of Mac OS X related to mobile computing, the iApps, home
automation, creative networking, or digital media. Everyone who has a Mac
loves to learn cool tricks that save time, increase efficiency, and make a
computer fun to use. We want innovative sessions that will make both
developers and administrators sit up and take notice, from overviews of
cutting edge projects that will inspire attendees to come learn about the
future of the platform, to practical, hands-on advice that will make it a
no-brainer for IT departments to send their staff."

Submitting Proposals:

Individuals, companies, and project teams interested in making
presentations, giving tutorials, or participating in panel discussions are
invited to submit proposals in two categories: tutorials (three or six
hour presentations) and conference sessions (45 or 90 minute
presentations).

Proposals need not be works of art--a thoughtful summary or abstract of
the talk is sufficient for consideration. Outlines are preferred for
tutorials. The proposal is what the conference committee uses to select
speakers, so the committee needs enough information to understand the
topic being covered. Presentations by marketing staff or with a marketing
focus will not be accepted; neither will submissions made by anyone other
than the proposed speaker. All session presenters whose talks are accepted
will receive free admission to the conference. Proposals are due no later
than June 11, 2004.

If you have an idea for a panel discussion or a particularly provocative
group of panelists that you'd love to see square off, feel free to send
your suggestions to macosx-idea@oreilly.com.

About O'Reilly

O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.